Detroit Free Press Special Writer

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The idea of selecting an accomplished college prospect in the draft who can bring along high aspirations and raw athleticism seems ideal to any NBA franchise picking in the top 10 on Thursday night.

This is not the case, however, for the Detroit Pistons, who lost their first-round pick to the Charlotte Hornets in the draft lottery.

“Obviously it was a crusher,” ESPN analyst Tom Penn said Wednesday in a conference call. “Talk about bad luck, to have the No. 8 pick disappear like that because of the way the lottery balls fell.”

Now, Detroit coach and president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy must find a way to acquire talent in the second round with the 38th pick who can make an immediate impact for a team that finished with a losing record for the sixth straight season.

But could there be a way for Detroit to move into the first round with a trade? Penn argues that the Pistons should stay at 38 because there will be plenty of talent available and that it will be too difficult to move up.

“It’s really hard to get up using 38 as an asset,” Penn said. “They’d have to trade a future first-round pick ... and I don’t think the Pistons can afford to do that. The other way you can move up is to take the contract off of someone’s roster into your cap space.

“So they can do that. However, in a vacuum, it’s just hard to see something like that happening based on what I do know about the situation.”

One player who should be available is Tennessee guard Jordan McRae, whom Fran Fraschilla of ESPN speaks highly of because of his shooting ability after averaging 18.7 points per game during his senior year.

“There’s a lot to like about him,” Fraschilla said during a conference call. “He’ll have to improve his outside shooting and he also has a flying elbow, which prevents him from shooting accurately from long distance, but he has a scorer’s mentality.”

Fraschilla also mentioned Tennessee forward Jarnell Stokes as a player who could go anywhere late in the first round or early second round. He averaged 15.1 points and 10.6 rebounds.

“Two things translate in the NBA, size for position and rebound rate. When you have both of those things, it’s really exciting,” Fraschilla said. “He’s not going to be a guy where you put out there and can score over people, but he has played three years of college basketball, which really helps him because he’s used to the grind, so he’s matured and grown up.”

Beat writer Vince Ellis will answer your Pistons questions in a live chat at 2 p.m. Thursday at freep.com/sports. Submit early questions here. And join special writer Nick Meyer for a live blog of the NBA draft Thursday night.